Here's a preview: Three Michigan State players will be first-round regulars in those 2016 mock drafts, two seniors who opted to return for next season despite promising 2015 projections (quarterback Connor Cook and defensive end Shilique Calhoun), and a junior left tackle (Jack Conklin) who is no cinch to leave a year early but might end up the highest-projected of the three.
So next year could mark the program's best first-round showing other than 1967 — an untouchable four of the first eight picks were Spartans —
1967 - Round 1 | ||||
SEL # | TEAM | PLAYER | POSITION | SCHOOL |
1 | Baltimore Colts | Bubba Smith | DE | Michigan State |
2 | Minnesota Vikings | Clint Jones | RB | Michigan State |
3 | San Francisco 49ers | Steve Spurrier | QB | Florida |
4 | Miami Dolphins | Bob Griese | QB | Purdue |
5 | Houston Oilers | George Webster | LB | Michigan State |
6 | Denver Broncos | Floyd Little | RB | Syracuse |
7 | Detroit Lions | Mel Farr | RB | UCLA |
8 | Minnesota Vikings | Gene Washington | WR | Michigan State |
and better explain all the winning that has been going on in East Lansing. MSU has two Big Ten titles and a league-best 53 wins in the past five seasons, with four straight bowl victories, consecutive top-five finishes and a single first-round pick.
"You don't win the games we've won over the last five years without great players," coach Mark Dantonio said.
And MSU is poised to make some history tonight. One year ago, cornerback Darqueze Dennard was a first-round pick to Cincinnati. His partner on MSU's 2013 Rose Bowl championship team, Trae Waynes, will be in Chicago for the first round tonight and is a consensus pick among analysts to be the first cornerback taken.
After Waynes goes, the next question will be whether the Spartans are going to be one-and-done again. Several seniors from MSU's 2013 team were projected as draftees, but no one else was chosen.
There are no other 100% locks after Waynes. But it appears likely that running back Jeremy Langford will be drafted after rushing for 2,944 yards the past two seasons and running a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, best among running backs.
This draft is loaded at the position, but Langford can run, catch and pass block, and he has become one of the analysts' favorite "underrated" prospects in the draft. Todd McShay and Charles Davis are among those who have used that word to describe him, and he told reporters at the combine: "I've been the underdog my whole career."
"I just want to hear my name called," Lippett said this week. "I'm happy as long as I get drafted somewhere."
Langford and Lippett have spent the past several weeks mostly working out at MSU, along with teammates and NFL hopefuls in safety Kurtis Drummond, linebacker Taiwan Jones and receiver Keith Mumphery. Drummond and Jones are viable draft candidates, while Mumphery, defensive end Marcus Rush, running back Nick Hill, punter Mike Sadler and linebacker Mylan Hicks may get shots at the league via free agency.
Drummond was the Big Ten's defensive back of the year as a senior but ran a 4.65 in the 40 at the combine. He must hope game film trumps measurables, while Jones has been working to shed weight, demonstrate speed and prove he isn't strictly a run-stopping linebacker entering a pass-crazy league.
Those who have to make it as a free agent can take heart in a year ago, when MSU linebackers Max Bullough and Denicos Allen, safety Isaiah Lewis, receiver Bennie Fowler and linemen Tyler Hoover, Dan France and Fou Fonoti all at least made NFL practice squads.
SEL # | TEAM | PLAYER | POSITION | SCHOOL |
1 | Baltimore Colts | Bubba Smith | DE | Michigan State |
2 | Minnesota Vikings | Clint Jones | RB | Michigan State |
3 | San Francisco 49ers | Steve Spurrier | QB | Florida |
4 | Miami Dolphins | Bob Griese | QB | Purdue |
5 | Houston Oilers | George Webster | LB | Michigan State |
6 | Denver Broncos | Floyd Little | RB | Syracuse |
7 | Detroit Lions | Mel Farr | RB | UCLA |
8 | Minnesota Vikings | Gene Washington |
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